The health authorities still aim to enter the so-called “period of consolidation” by Friday this week, although at this stage there are no guarantees that this will happen, health authorities announced yesterday during the daily press briefing from the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Center.
In response to several media inquiries, the coordinator at the local Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Leong Iek Hou, said, “When we manage to reduce the number of new positive cases to a certain number we can then move forward to the period of consolidation and move to pass this period of zero infection, but we need to reach a certain level.” Leong added that the ability to reach this consolidation period also depends on other factors, including the risk of new infections.
“It’s not just purely the number of infections. Now [yesterday] we have eight cases coming from two different groups (those considered close contacts and those in the community, including mass testing and key groups). This situation is different from, for instance, [the hypothetical case in which] these eight infections had come from eight different risk groups. The essential [part required to move towards lifting the confinement orders] is to calculate the level of risk represented by the new infections and ensure that this risk is low for the community. Then we can enter a period of consolidation,” Leong explained.
She suggested that if the number of cases found within the community at large drops to zero, authorities may finally be able to push forward with the consolidation period.
Nonetheless, Leong also noted that this period does not yet represent the return to normality. Instead, “in the period of consolidation, the activities that can be done will be restricted in coordination with other dynamic measures of prevention and control such as undergoing nucleic acid tests (NAT), so we can gradually return to normal life.”
Health authorities also warned that this method of controlling outbreaks of Covid-19 by restricting the normal functioning of businesses and economic activities, in addition to restricting people movement, will continue to be followed in the future should another outbreak arise, with a progressive easing of restrictions “when there are no cases and a return to confinement when there are,” according to Leong.
According to figures cited by the same official, a total of 22 new positive cases were found on July 17, 14 of which were detected in people undergoing medical observation in isolation either at home (red zones of confinement) or in quarantine hotels.
Leong also added that 32 people have been released from medical observation, including 21 cases of asymptomatic infection and 11 confirmed cases who have recovered. In total, 416 people in connection with last month’s outbreak have been released from isolation and have returned to the community.
Regarding the five batches containing 10-in-1 mixed samples found during the tenth round of citywide mass testing, the health authorities found that four are new positive cases, while one is considered a relapse case, as it concerns a person who returned from abroad and had had been previously infected.
From the eleventh round of citywide mass testing that closes at 6 p.m. today, a total of 188,900 people had been tested by 3 p.m. yesterday. Of those, 30,248 samples had already returned negative results. No batches containing 10-in-1 mixed samples tested positive until this time yesterday.
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During the same press briefing, Leong said that several people are being required to observe longer confinement periods than expected in both red zones of confinement and quarantine hotels because they are not following basic rules.
The official explained that the authorities have been continuously seeing a growing number of cases of people breaching quarantine rules and visiting other neighboring apartments during confinement. By circulating through the building and opening doors to their homes or quarantine rooms, more opportunities for cross-transmission are created.
Leong urged people to strictly follow the rules at this stage as non-compliance is increasing the number of infections and causing consequently longer stays in confinement, both for those breaching the rules as well as others residing in the same building or facility. She also called on the broader population – including those not currently in confinement areas – to refrain from visiting other people at their homes and having gatherings as activities such as dinners, parties, and celebrations pose a risk to the community as a whole.
